USES OF BEAUTY 13 



And the farmer is poor indeed if the odor of clay is so 

 fixed in his nostrils as to shut out the fragrance of flowers. 

 The genius of man never invented a moving-picture out- 

 fit to show such splendors as may be seen in the glow of 

 the dying day. Or, to take a homely scene, the cow 

 stands in a brook beneath a spreading tree ; beyond 

 stretches a meadow, or a field of corn ; at a distance loom 

 the farm buildings. A painting of this scene may bring 

 fame and fortune to the artist. Wandering crowds may 

 gather in a gallery to admire the colored canvas. But 

 the country child may feast his eyes on the real scene the 

 long seasons through. The farmer, in the following poem 

 of Helen Hunt Jackson, would have been the richer if 

 he had lifted his eyes to see what the poet saw : 



" Along Ancona's l hills the shimmering heat, 

 A tropic tide of air, with ebb and flow, 

 Bathes all the fields of wheat until they glow 

 Like seas of green which toss and beat 

 About the vines. 2 The poppies, 3 lithe and fleet, 

 Seem running, fiery torchmen, to and fro 

 To mark the shore. The farmer does not know 

 That they are there. He walks with heavy feet, 

 Counting the bread and wine of autumn's store ; 

 But I, I smile to think that days remain, 

 Perchance, to me, when the bread be sweet no more, 

 And red wine warm the heart in vain, 

 I shall be glad, remembering how the fleet 

 Lithe poppies ran like torchmen through the wheat." 



1 Ancona is a beautiful town in Italy on the Adriatic. 



2 Grapes and grain are the two principal products of the district. 



8 The wild European poppy is a tall, wonderfully graceful, deep red, bell- 

 shaped flower, growing often in great numbers along the margins of grain 

 fields. 



